The Halifax Common is Canada’s oldest urban park, and it continues to evolve with the city. Originally a passage for livestock and horses, it was later used to provide a clear field of fire for the garrison of the Halifax Citadel. Even as the city expanded, the Commons remained a protected public space, and eventually came to house the Public Gardens, hospitals, schools, and a cemetery.
Today on the Commons you will also find playgrounds, sports fields, a skating rink, skateboarding facilities, a swimming pool, and much more. A true fixture of Halifax’s dynamic urban landscape, the common thread running throughout the long history of the Halifax Common is its ability to connect both the different parts of the city and its residents.
While The George is architecturally modern and a new addition to Halifax, it also embodies a special part of the Lawen Group’s family history. The building is named after George Lawen, the patriarch of the Lawen family who unofficially founded the company when he began purchasing buildings in the 1960s. The Lawens lived on North Park Street for many years and each family member regularly travelled the paths through the Halifax Common to maintain their properties, often with ladders, tools, and supplies in hand. The paths through The Commons—represented in the logo—connected the family to their growing business and their future, just as they also connect Halifax’s diverse neighbourhoods. The Lawen family is proud to share a piece of their history with the new residents of The George, who are sure to begin writing their own histories within the building’s space.
